Entries to Win Afghan

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Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Early Autumn Rainbow


Every once in a while I like to do a collage rainbow post. You get one today. The pictures have all been taken in the past week.

RED- Jack in the Pulpit seeds, ORANGE- Beech leaves, YELLOW- Sassafras leaves, GREEN- mixed leaves including oak, BLUE- the sky, PURPLE- New England Aster.
jack in the pulpit seeds

beech leaves

sassafras leaves

green leaves

sky with clouds

New England aster


I got my new computer today and have spent most of the day trying to get my software back to the settings I had, the calendar to work, and all that sort of thing. Managed a tiny bit of productivity. Then bell choir this afternoon, and a little walk.

I should be back to full steam tomorrow

Miles hiked in 2025: 372.

Ludington School Forest, various trails, 2 miles

See Late Winter Rainbow II

Monday, September 22, 2025

Cartier Park Visit


I have been without a computer all day. That is a serious sort of weaning! I'm blogging on the old computer which could die, using accessories that have also been relegated to the "dead" pile because they are totally unreliable. My new computer is being put together, but it wasn't quite done at end of the business day.

I've been thinking about it, and I think I've had a total of 5 laptop computers. I don't think I've bought a single one of them. I can say for sure that 4 of them were used and gifts from people. I can't quite pull up the memory of where I got #2 in that lineup.

At any rate, I am forever grateful for the generosity of folks who have helped me. However, I've been fairly covetous of a computer that doesn't struggle for quite a while. I decided it's time to get serious about that.

So, I dropped my current computer off this morning along with all software disks and accessories. My recent computer problems may be all one issue, or they may be several things conspiring to do me in. So, I left all the stuff with STS Computers in Ludington. They've been my computer folks for over 30 years. They know that I know just enough to be dangerous, but they treat me with respect and don't try to force stuff on me I don't need or want. And their prices are reasonable.

Then I went for a walk at Cartier Park. We had thunderstorms overnight and the paths were damp and cool.
Cartier Park pathway


The last time I was there (February), the gazebo was where it's always been. But then, it was torn down because they discovered serious structural issues. But February was a while ago! Someone donated the money and a new gazebo has already been built!
gazebo


Lincoln Lake was silver rather than blue today.
Lincoln Lake


And did you notice who was also enjoying the water? A great blue heron.
bue heron


I have managed to find some tasks to do that didn't require a computer. Mostly I read a book and tried not to stew over not being able to work on pressing things.

Now I have a Zoom meeting. I'll have to try to also do that on the old computer which needs to not be allowed to be on long enough to get very hot. Hopefully, it will hang in there just a little longer or I'll have to switch to phone.

Report on mouth- just a little swelling left. Things are good. Not eating crunchy foods yet, but everything seems to be on track.

See Mile and a Half

Sunday, September 21, 2025

Wildflowers/Weeds


A bit of roadside botany and I learned something new in each case.

First up, we have Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus. These sunflower relatives drive me nuts. I can never remember how to tell them apart.
woodland sunflower


Well, the most common ones that have a pair of flowering stalks coming up in the top leaf axils are this one, Woodland Sunflower- which is the smoothest of the three, Hairy Sunflower- which is hairier, and Jerusalen Artichoke- which is really rough. Wonder if I can remember that.
woodland sunflower


This next one made me stop and say, "Huh." It's obviously a Brassicaceae (cabbage, mustard, cress, etc) because of the 4 petals and long skinny seed pods. But I wasn't aware of ones that bloom in the fall.
arugala


It's Diplotaxis tenuifolia, or yes, Arugala. It's not native here, but often escapes gardens. The leaves are probably tough and more bitter than usual at this point, but here are the leaves which are distinctive. This was growing right along the road. Not a great place to collect edibles. But I think I'll know how to ID it in the future.
arugala


Finally, I always called this one Cudweed. That is one of the common names, but that also gets used on some other plants. Perhaps a more distinctive common name is Rabbit Tobacco, Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium. Yes, it's a relative of the Pussytoes and Everlastings- all of which have flowers that look like they don't open. It's a biennial, and this is the first year.
rabbit tobacco


The stems and flowers are wooly with soft hairs. In the second year it gets taller and the pods get yellow-brown and burst open with seeds. I'll have to watch for that.
rabbit tobacco


My mouth really doesn't hurt much at all. Face is a little swollen. I tried to be quiet today because of the stitches, but I think I'm pretty much good to go. Well, I'll eat soft foods a couple more days. The original direction for two weeks of soft food was when they originally thought I would have one more thing done at the surgeon. Now, I may skip that. I'll explain if it comes up again.

The computer managed to repair one of its problems with repeated urging, but I think I'll be going tomorrow to get started on getting a different one. I spend too much time working on a computer to have to worry about regular crashes.

See Gale's Pond Botany

Saturday, September 20, 2025

How Did Things Go at the Dentist?


Since I am 100% self pay for dental needs I try to avoid going unless I need to. Here's what precipitated this whole crisis. For starters, despite having spent an inordinate number of hours of my life in dental chairs, I have had exactly one dentist that I liked. That was Dr. Rose in Ludington. I know that many of you local people also remember him. He did careful, gentle, and excellent work on my crappy teeth. He used to shake his head and say, "You were last in line when they handed out teeth."

And then, I did not help the situation one bit. In 5th grade, and I had just gotten my permanent front teeth, I managed to break them both off, snaggletooth style, on the gym floor. That was the beginning of a long horror story. Note: just scroll down if you don't want to read this whole long history.

This was dentistry in the 1950s. The teeth were not dead, but the nerves were exposed. Think pain. My mother was out of town for the first time in my life, and my dad was not willing to make choices until she got home, so I had to just endure that. Then, the dentist burned out the live nerves. (That was fun...) Then they ground down the stubs and put on caps.

Those were never satisfactory. I lost one or two every year. Of course, every time I was without a tooth or teeth I was teased at school. I swallowed one! Sometimes, when one came off I could retrieve it so the same cap could be glued back on. Usually not.

Then in junior high, it was determined I needed braces. For starters, my mouth was too small for the normal number of teeth. So they pulled four- one in each quadrant- so there would be room. I had an extreme overbite. So I had braces for three years.

In high school, the dentist suggested they do something "new." They would grind down the remaining stubs of my front teeth and screw a post into the old roots. Then a plastic tooth could be screwed onto the post. This would keep them in my mouth. So that was done.

Next I'm headed off to college. Yeah! With teeth that stay in my head. Yeah! Well, when I was a sophomore, I started having major mouth pain. Turns out there was in infection from that original injury that had been hiding for 9 years. It had spread to most of my upper jaw. So... 8 more teeth were pulled and put on a partial plate. That's how long I've had false teeth, since 1966.

Now, we'll back up to third grade. I swear my class was part of a Crest Test. We all got toothbrushes and toothpaste at school, and we had to line up and brush after lunch every day. And I brushed at home. However, my teeth were just riddled with decay. You'd think I never met a toothbrush. I think I was on the team that didn't get Crest.

Along around 1980, that first partial plate broke, and Dr. Rose made me my second plate. That one fit the best!

Then, my head decided to grow two wisdom teeth. No room for those babies. At least I only had them on one side of my head. One came out easily. I got sent to an oral surgeon for the other one. It was a mess, and they had to cut it out. I got a dry socket, ouch, ouch, ouch.

My second partial plate broke right after Dr. Rose sold his practice. So, yet another dentist made my third plate. But remember the bad teeth? They had to do quite a bit of work and put two gold crowns on back teeth on top to make things stable enough to hold the plate. I've never been very happy with the way this plate fits, but, o well...

Now we get to what happened this week. One of the fixes Dr. Rose did long ago on several of my molars was to more or less rebuild the tooth when there was really nothing left that could be fixed with a standard filling. He put a tight metal band around the tooth and packed it with something that created a "new" tooth. It was presented as fact that these would not last the rest of my life, but they would work for a while. Well, I don't know exactly when these were done, but I think they've lasted 25-30 years. One of these came apart this week. It left parts of the tooth looking like a series of arches at Pictured Rocks.

I was hoping a crown would fix it. Nope. The decay was too far down below the bone line. So that tooth had to come out and the one next to it will have to have a crown before it gets as bad as this one was.

So yesterday, I was off to Muskegon for the extraction. Now things get amazing. As mentioned, I've avoided dentists in recent years. First new technology surprise. They had me step up to a pedestal in the floor and bite down on a piece of plastic. That is just to keep you from moving. Then a couple of curved bars slowly whirl around your head. The result is a 3-D Xray!
dental x-ray


There are spots on the screen they can "grab" with a finger and rotate the image, so they can really see what's happening. Result- yes, the tooth was infected. And almost more problematic, the bone had degenerated. They said this isn't really unusual, but it had to be dealt with.

Next surprise- they help the bone regenerate. They took some of my blood (more on that in a minute), and mix growth factors from that with some kind of matrix. Then when the tooth is out they pack that in the hole, layer it with collegen and sew up the top. This helps your jaw grow new bone.

Now for the blood draw. These are nearly always horrible. I have small veins that apparently roll. It often takes 3-5 attempts to get blood from me. So the assistant says, "Do you have a good vein for me?" I said, "Nope." She says, all perky, "Perfect!"

I chose an arm and she ties on the tourniquet. She asked if I was ready. Well, yeah... what else am I going to say except "yes." I am here to tell you that I never even felt the needle go in and she got it on the first try. I'm praising her abilities, and she's trying not to smirk. But she's good, and she knows it. NO bruise today and you can't even see the prick.

Now for the part of the 3-D X-ray that I find fascinating. The computer prepares a rendering of the patient's mouth area that is nothing short of amazing. Look at this!
3d dental xray


I have to say that I think this oral surgeon was good. The tooth broke (as my dentist suspected it would) into three parts and he had to work to get them out. I chose local anaesthetic, so I knew what was going on. The assistant held my jaw to help him get leverage, and she was strong and firm but not rough.

One of the best things, and maybe this is standard now, but it was new to me. Instead of constantly telling you to open wider (which is very hard for me because my mouth is so small) they have a rounded triangle of hard rubber which they fit into the corner of your mouth and you can bite down on. Since the natural desire is to want to close and clamp your mouth, this is great. You bite down, but your mouth is still open wide.

I forgot to look at the clock when I was finished, but I think this all took a fair amount of time. I only stopped at the pharmacy on the way home for antibiotics and a special mouth rinse, but didn't get home until 4:30. It's an hour drive from where the extraction was done.

That's when I discovered my computer would not boot up. Too late to get to my computer place before they closed until Monday. I knew things were going bad, and had stopped to talk with them last week.

Anyway... there has been only a minor amount of pain with this extraction. I haven't even taken any pain meds. That's another bit of evidence that this guy was good.

Today, I've been working on the computer. Got it to boot up, and I'm running some tests and repairs I know how to do, but I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a new one next week.

I've read a bit, took a walk, watched a movie, and tried to take it easy. I'm blogging on the old computer which could die any unexpected hot second, but it seems to have survived long enough for yet another blog post.

See How's Your Self Image

Friday, September 19, 2025

Look Who's Feeling Better

 
I stopped this morning to visit with Miki who has finally been released from the hospital. (She should have been out quite a while ago, but finding a facility that will take a rehab patient is not as simple as it should be.)

She can't even try walking for many weeks, but she can sit up, and she's pretty mobile in a wheelchair.

If you know Miki, you know the inactivity is really hard for her. But I learned that she also likes jigsaw puzzles, so I took a 300-piece one that we could probably safely finish in the time we were going to have.

Well, not only does she like them, she's very good at them, so we finished this, no problem! Had a fun time.
women with a jigsaw puzzle


The facility she's in is interesting. She's only going to be there a few days and then has a place at a real rehab center. But this is a respite facility. It is set up very similar to the place my cousin Jean is involved with. It's more like several small apartments than a hospital. (Jean's is much more homey though)
apartment house


In case you don't know, Miki was in a terrible motorcycle accident about a month ago. She's very fortunate to even be alive, She broke an arm and smashed her pelvis, but everything should heal given time and care.

I'll tell you about my dental experience tomorrow. For now, I'll just say that I'm home and in good shape without too much pain. I'll probably go to bed early. I was out all day long.

And now I'm having computer troubles, and can't do anything about that till Monday. Blogging on the old computer, which fortunately still works to do basic stuff.

See Solace House

Thursday, September 18, 2025

500 Species of Plants


Some of you know that one of my never-will-be-finished projects is to build a database of my photos so I might actually be able to find things. I keep working on it, usually a little bit each day.

One of the categories of pictures is, of course, plants. So yesterday, I hit 500 different species entered. This is out of a total of over 3000 photos entered so far. There will be lots more than 500 ultimately. I thought for today, I'd just pick some of my favorite plant pictures from the photos that are, so far, in the database.

I'll start with this bromeliad from the 2010 Philadelphia Flower Show. Of course, these are used in displays a lot because they are so colorful and showy, but that doesn't keep me from liking them. Genus Aechmea variety 'Blue Tango.'
blue tango bromeliad


Not all of the favorite plant pictures are going to be exotic things. For example, here is a large white oak tree, Quercus alba, that is found along the Finger Lakes/North Country Trails. It's named for the family that owns the property it's on, the Yorski Oak. With few of the leaves out yet, you can see the great bones of this tree that is probably 200 years old. Picture taken in May 2010 on the hike on which I finished all of the NCT in New York.
large white oak tree


This one is last fall in my rock garden. This is the Sedum 'Dazzleberry' making a large bumblebee very happy. See the full pollen baskets?
bumblebee on flowering dazzleberry sedum


This is also last fall with late afternoon sunlight on Ostrich Ferns, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Near Round Lake.
ostrich fern in autumn


This one is a little more exotic in that it's not commonly found, but I did find some very near my house in 2010. This is a Grape Fern, sometimes this group is called Moonworts. But those are both just names for a whole group of ferns. The Genus is Botrychium, and I think this is matricariifolium, or the Daisyleaf Moonwort. It's one of the more common ones in the group. That said, I've only ever seen two of species in real life. I'm pretty pleased that I found this one on my own. You can see why they are called "grape ferns" because the fertile leaves look like a small cluster of grapes getting ready to ripen. This whole plant is maybe an inch-and-a-half tall.
daisyleaf moonwort


I'll end this collection with another from last fall. In the database, I've been alternating entering more recent months with older pictures, so the dates are all over the place. This is just Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, in full autumn color, with berries, and contrasted with some ash leaves.
virginia creeper with berries


Aren't plants great?

Today I found out that I can get the dental work I need started tomorrow! And that I have to only eat very soft food for two weeks. So, I went shopping because I don't want to have to face that if I feel really bad when I get home tomorrow.

Worked on all the usual projects. Vacation from DMS is up to 41,630 words.

See Best Photos of 2020

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Almost a Boat Ride


We were going to have a pontoon boat ride, but it got too dark. We'll just have to have another meeting that starts earlier!


This was our first Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA board meeting under recently elected President Dan Driesinga. We had a lot of important things to cover, and he did a great job of keeping us on track. We decided we needed to finish the agenda rather than have playtime on the water.

I'm really happy to have our chapter getting things put together and so many people stepping up to fill roles.


Got a fair amount of other things done today too.

See This is Also Trail Work

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Looking for Some Color


I'm certainly not trying to rush the season. But after bell choir practice I took a walk in the Ludington School Forest (as I so often do because it's right there). I thought there might at least be a brightly colored fallen leaf or two. Nope. Only color is this tree that always seems to turn a little earlier than everything else.
red maple tree


Found one lonely berry from a Lily of the Valley.
lily of the valley berry


Best thing is that they've put a sidewalk along Bryant Road beside the forest. That's because a few years ago they took away about a quarter of the forest and built a new elementary school. Finally, there is a safe way to walk there.
sidewalk


Again, I spent a lot of the day running around. A couple of the things I found out are good. The news from the dentist... not so much. To fix the problem correctly is going to cost about $5000.

I'm working on some book marketing materials.

Miles hiked in 2025: 365.5

Ludington School Forest. 1.5 miles, various loops

See Ludington School Forest in the Fall

Monday, September 15, 2025

Visiting Margaret's Garden


I am going to try to get some plants going for the gardens over the winter. I do not have a track record of being very good with this, although I did OK last year. I'm going to try some coleus this year. Friend Margaret gave me cuttings from two different ones, a dark purple and this interesting variegated one. Look at the scalloped edges on the leaves.
coleus


She has a huge fenced garden- her whole back yard. She has vegetables and all kinds of flowers. A lot of them are tubers and bulbs she has to take in every winter. I don't have the patience for that at all. These are begonias that should only be good for one season. But she says she takes them in and every year they come back.
tuberous begonias flowering


This is her back porch. Look at all the plants! She apologized because it's not at peak beauty. Hey, it's September. I think it looks great.
flowers on a porch


This is a really healthy Jimsonweed. She called it a moonflower. Common names are all over the map. It's Datura stramonium. Ingesting any part of the plant can cause severe altered mental states and even death. So, enjoy looking, but don't get the sap in your mouth!
jimsonweed


There were lots of other things I could have taken pictures of, but I didn't. Oh well. These are the annuals along her front walkway. She says the petunias have bloomed all summer even without very consistent deadheading.
annual flowers


I enjoyed the tour! I'm glad she was home to show me. We had left it that I would come snatch some coleus from the front whether she was there or not. But I got the full tour.

I spent a big portion of the day doing errands. There weren't any big glitches with any of them, so that's good. I have a preliminary dentist appointment tomorrow.

I also edited and answered various correspondence, blah, blah.

See Margaret's Garden

Sunday, September 14, 2025

Mid September Garden Color


Things are looking really good! We haven't had a frost yet. In fact, it's a little warm this week, but at least I don't have to watch to see if things have to come in or be covered.

This is a rock garden space you've seen fairly often, but this is from a different angle, and the Hylotelephium 'Rosentaller' is almost in full bloom. Behind it is 'Wildfire' and some Lamb's Ear.
colorful rock garden


This one maybe doesn't look quite as nice, but I'm pretty happy that it's this good. In the center is 'Lime Zinger' and around it is the Moneywort, Lysemachia nummularia 'Goldilocks.' The moneywort was a bad choice for this rock garden because it's so dry. But against all odds, the plant is actually spreading a bit. The leaves stay bright yellow-green all season. There is also a tiny puddle of Sedum hispanicum, but I can no longer tell which is 'Pinkie' and which is 'Blue Carpet,' because they have migrated all over.
colorful rock garden plants


Now we'll move out of the rock garden for just a minute. This is probably the best the Marigolds are going to look, although there are still a couple of plants with buds. The Coleus I stuck in there are practically invisible. If I do Marigolds again I need to start the seeds about a month earlier. I'm going to try some Coleus cuttings from friends this fall. Need to concentrate on ones with darker leaf colors.
marigolds


Now back to the rock garden. This is kind of a fluke. It was a couple of days ago, and on the left are a few blossoms of pink Moss Phlox (a spring blooer) and the bright magenta Bloody Cranesbill (a summer bloomer) that decided to pair up with the not quite yet blooming Sedum 'Autumn Joy' on the right. Just an unexpected combo to bring a smile at this time of year.
colorful rock garden plants


This one is hanging out by itself, but I am loving watching how the flower progresses since I've never seen it bloom before. This is the dark purple-leaved 'Oriental Dancer' that I bought this spring.
oriental dancer sedum


Finally, another one you've seen often, but from a new angle. I continue to be amazed at how long the beauty lasts in this space. In the front is, again, the Sedum 'Coraljade.' Behind it, the white is an Artemesia 'Silver Mound.' The green is Sedum 'Weihenstephaner Gold,' and the orangey is Sedum 'Angelina,' which did not bloom this year, but the foliage gives good color.
colorful rock garden plants


A few people have told me this year that they like that I explain what all the plants are and show details. That encourages me. You know who you are. Thank you!

I tried to give myself a rest day today. I did some things but didn't work too hard at any of them. And I watched a movie.

See Late Summer Color